Making CPEC successful.

• Author: Shaikh, Khurram Adeel
• Position: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Byline: Khurram Adeel Shaikh

In July, Pakistan went to International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. There is a general perception that the momentum of CPEC projects are slowing down due to the concerns over the size of Pakistan's debt and struggling economy. China's ability to pull 800 million people out of poverty in four decades through economic reforms has presented a compelling model for Pakistan to follow. However, given a tough series of IMF-induced measures for stabilization, economic growth in Pakistan seems to have slowed down even more.

Keeping in view the fact that Pakistan is the first key destination for the China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is providing some measure of comfort to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It targets to sustain the economic triumph and realize future ambitions.

There is a silver lining in the cloud. Couple of months back, a 55-member Chinese delegation of business executives met the Prime Minister and committed to invest $5 billion over the next five years. And that's seems to be a co-incidence that this has the same timings of as details of the IMF deal were made public. In its staff report following the approval of a three-year $6 billion bailout program, the IMF mentions the repayment of $14.68 billion due for $21.8 billion bilateral and commercial loans that Pakistan owes to China. This is almost 24 percent of the country's total $85.8 billion external debt and liabilities. The document states that the Chinese commercial debt will be fully retired by the end of the program in 2022, while the bilateral debt ($15.5 billion) will be almost half of what the country owes at this point to $7.9 billion.

Normally the Chinese government don't share the details of its multiple deals. The Pakistani counter parts are of the view that the Prime Minister Khan is as much devoted and committed to the CPEC as anyone else. His multiple meetings with the leadership in China were successful and witnessed to the recognition of the project's value to Pakistan. Now Pakistan is moving ahead in the next phase of economic cooperation that focuses on development of the social sector are exploring petroleum, identifying special industrial zones. So far nine such sites has been identified across the country. Furthermore, there are discussions over agriculture co-branding also. Whatever be the situation, it has pushed the CPEC down on the priority list on both sides.

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